Au contraire! Had a QSO eith a young girl who sent me a custom QSL card. A hedgehog calling CQ. Love it!

Then there was a snow storm and a boy was up there os some small mountain. He climbed it to have better propagation.Full enthusiasm, no own money. and they were having fun!

It's the attitude that counts. These teenagers had likely more fun than someone who can afford the latest transceiver requiring UPS drop shipment due to its weight and which comes with a 5-digit price tag.

My latest rig is a old Kenwood TS-130S. I answered a "freecycle" ad for a free ham radio and was rewarded with a FT-130, a PS-50 power supply, a old frequency counter and a tube based signal generator. The items have been in this persons garage for 20 years and they had no use for them. I carefully cleaned the rig and power supply (both were stored in the open and were very dirty). I downloaded the operating manuals for both off the internet. I pluged in the power supply, worked great and measured the voltage, no problems here. I then hooked up the rig (making sure the controls were set on the appropriate levels) and attached a dipole. The rig worked great. At this point I have zero dollars invested and two hours of time (inculding picking up the rig). Now I do need to pick up a mike, maybe $30-$50 dollars used to complete the station, but the rig works great and I will use it as a back up or pass it on to a new ham to help them get on the air. Many deals like this one around and a lot of clubs and individuals will pass on HTs and HF rigs to help those in need.

Communism is based on the notion that the working class, who collectively constitute the main producer of wealth in society, and who are perpetually exploited and marginalised by the wealthy class, should change the capitalist system by eliminating most private property and by holding practically all wealth in common. (paraphrasing, perhaps poorly, some info from from Wikipedia)

Getting a good explanation of Communism from a Capitalist is almost as hard as getting a good explanation of Buddhism from a Christian. I am neither a Communist nor a Capitalist so take my above synopsis with a grain of salt. It would be nice if we could discuss the merits and drawbacks of both Communism and Capitalism without demonizing either, but I haven't seen much evidence that it can be done

Communists don't like it when Capitalists point out that freeloaders would be rewarded as much as hard-workers. Capitalists don't like any discussion of Communism that does not demonize it. However, since very wealthy Capitalists control both political parties in America it is very unlikely that Communism could ever get any traction here. That said, scaring the public about socialism is about as good a method as warmongering and flag-waiving are when it comes to self-serving politicians trying to attract our votes.

Right now Ham Radio is socialistic in that it is available to everyone who passes the test -- access is not sold for a profit.

Not the case in India.

I certainly cannot speak for other countries, but it would seem to me that, world wide, access to ham radio is certainly limited by cost.

I compare ham radio to bicycling, my other hobby that has people with much the same attitude and camaraderie as hams. I can get in and enjoy, at least in the US, for a pretty low entry fee. But if one has the money and the interest, you can spend thousands. Big difference; I can and do still build my own bicycles, something I lost long ago in short wave.

W9KDX has a very good point. Some countries are very poor. If you go back to my first post, you'll see that the attitude that amateur radio is only for rich people has a danger - people from Administrations who think (?) like that are the people who could vote for us to lose spectrum. They also are the ones who do not understand the value that amateur radio has in terms of assisting education and thus development as well as in times of natural disaster.

I am told from a non-amateur, non-UK delegate at the WRC, that during discussions about an amateur allocation around 500 kHz, the claim came from one delegate that 'amateur radio is only for rich people'.

Doesn't say much about his knowledge of that on which he apparently wants to legislate. Although I suppose that is not an uncommon phenomena.

But apparently we are all rich. Canot say I'd noticed nor, in my case at least, has my bank manager....

Not just for the rich, but for anyone who enjoys a thought provoking hobby. I'm certainly not rich, but I do work for a living I built a CW transmitter that is inside a soup can.$20 of materials, a 9 volt battery, and some study time. Money is not a limitation, brains is

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